Ambassador Ahn was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to the United States of America by President Park Geun-hye in May 2013. From 2012 to 2013, he served as First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and before that he served as Korea’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and to the European Union. From 2008 to 2011, he was the Deputy Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which time he served as President Lee Myung-bak’s sherpa to the G-20 and G8 outreach meetings.